Thank You!

Of course,the video touched my heart deeply but it did bring back a timeline of events which taught me how to “really” say thank you.

The first lessons of saying thank you were from my parents. Every time somebody gifts me a chocolate,they would tell me “Say Thank You” and I would tell “Thank You”.I always thought it was a custom to tell Thank You when somebody gives us something.After a while,when my parents started making me hand over the gifts to people,I was told to say “You are welcome” once they tell me “Thank You”.Even telling “You are welcome” was a mechanical activity.During school days,though the entire class shouts “Thank You Madam/Sir” after every class,I am sure that neither me or my classmates were thankful about it.The chanting of Thank You was more about the happiness and relief which we got when the teachers left the class than the thankfulness for teaching us.But then,as we grow up,we do learn a lot of life lessons.During my teenage phase,telling somebody Thank You was about shedding the my ego.So I rarely thanked anyone.I felt so embarrassing when somebody thanked me. I would look down wondering what to reply them.I used to feel very awkward by hearing the word Thank You.So I would show a fake smile and run away from the situation.I didn’t know how to handle such situations.

Things changed when I started my college.First time away from home,new place,new language,new people and new food.Altogether I was in a messed up state.But,luckily I got a friend,Chittu, on the second day of the college.We talked for hours in a stretch and became friends in no time.Chittu and I became the relief sources for each other.My roommate and I were struggling to get along well and Chittu and her roommate were on the same phase too.Interestingly,my roommate and Chittu’s roommate became buddies.In a week,Chittu had reached the saturation point of her frustrations.Wardens were strict about the rules as they claimed that in first year, students from same state should not be roommates.Yes,Chittu is from Kerala.Chittu was infamous for her punctuality.She was always the last one to reach the class.As we both go to the class together,I will also end up reaching the class late.Daily,for 8.30 AM class,we will be the last ones to run from the mess.Then one day,we were royally late to the class;so we skipped our breakfast and ran to the class.To make the worse worst,she slipped and fell down on the steps of the hostel.And the shameless we are,we smiled each other and went to mess to have breakfast.We were happy to skip the first hour of class and leisurely walked to the class.By end of the day,back pain started for her.The second week of our college had just started and nobody knew each other well.But,we still managed to borrow an electric kettle and an Iodex cream.My roommate was happy to temporarily move to Chittu’s room for few days.After three days,Chittu and I reluctantly talked with the warden and to our surprise she agreed to the idea of Chittu moving in with me and we kicking out my roommate to Chittu’s room.After talking to the warden,I was just simply standing at the door of my room.I don’t know what happened in next five minutes.Looks like Chittu had all her suitcases packed and ready.She just ran across the corridor twice or thrice and there she is,shifted to my room.Both of us laughed like crazy people and she hugged me so tight and said Thank You.That was the first time I felt the real meaning of Thank You.The Thank You she said had all the happiness and relief which she had felt then.That was a very genuine Thank You.One Thank You made me feel so special and that was the beginning of a very beautiful friendship.Thus I started thanking people very sincerely.I made it a habit to look into the other person’s eyes and thanking them with a smile.Some people respond,some just stare at me and some others show their happiness.

Trust me,this habit has made both my life and smile more beautiful.And,this is a Thank You note for Chittu which was long overdue.

So,next time don’t hesitate to thank someone.A Thank You can make wonders in life.

I make it a point to say ‘Thank you’ particularly to ‘ordinary’ people like liftmen, watchmen, courier delivery boys, shop-workers, etc.. These people are accustomed to be taken for granted, so my ‘Thank you’ thrills them! That gives me quite a bit of joy!!